Intermittent-feed mechanism for knitting-machines



(No Model.)

S. L. OTIS.

INTERMITTENT FEED- MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES.

No. 429,319. Patented June 3, 1890.

I Qwvamfo'z UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL LfoTIs, OF AMSTERDAM, NEW YORK.

lNTERMlTTE NT- -FEED MECHANISM FOR KNITTING-MACHINES.

1 SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 429,319,dated June 3, 1890.

Application filed November 9, 1882- Serial No.329,'780. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, SAMUEL L. OTIS, of Amsterdam, in the county of Montgomery and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful 1 mprovements in Intermittent Feed Mechanism for Knitting-Machines; and

' I do hereby declare the following to be a full,

clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to intermittent feedmotions for knitting-machines.

Hitherto different colored stitches have been produced in knitted fabrics by employing printed yarns; but this is an expensive process and but little used; and the object of my invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive means for feeding yarn to the machine at suitable intervals, employing an extra thread of a different color from the body of the web.

With this end in view my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is view in side elevation of my improved attachment for producing this intermittent feed, and Fig. 2 is a similar view of the opposite side.

A represents'the frame of the machine, upon which the various parts of the mechanism are supported, and 1 is the regular needle-cylinder, to which the yarn represented by the numeral 2 is fed by the wheel 3 to form the body of the web. The rigid plate 4 is located on the frame adjacent to the cylinder 1. This plate is split at its rearend 5 and furnished with a groove or yarnway 6 at the forward end, through which the yarn is fed. At its extreme forward end this plate is recessed at 22 for a purpose to be mentioned, and provided with a pair of upright teeth '7 7, which latter are preferably located a distance apart about equal to the width of the yarnwayfi.

Feed-plate 8 has a sliding pivotal connection with the rigid plate 4, and this connection is effected in the following manner. The feed-plate is furnished at its rear end with a slot 9, and the portion of the feed-plate wherein this slot is formed extends into the split rear end 5 of the rigid plate 4, where it is held by the pin 10, passing through the slot 9 and holes made for it in the rigid plate. The forward end of the feed-plate is contracted into the feeder 11, which extends into the yarnway 6. Said feeder has forward-projecting teeth 12 on its lower edge, which take hold of the yarn in the yarnway and feed it forward between the teeth 7 7 on the forward end of the rigid plate 4. The forward motion of the feeder is horizontal along the bottom of the yarnway, and the backward motion is in the arc of a circle, so as to give but one motion to the yarn, and that an intermittent motion. This motion is communicated to the feedplate by means of an arm 12', pivoted at its lower end to the frame. A finger 13 projects laterally from the upper end of this arm into the slot 14 in the feed-plate. The slot bends upward near its middle, and a cam-block 15, pivoted in proximity to the slot with its upper surface above the floor of the slot, form: ing a yielding floor for pin 13, permits the feeder to yield upward. The cam is yieldingly supported at its free end byaspring 16, and a pin 17 above the cam-block limits its upward movement. As the arm swings back and forth it carries this feed-plate with it, and by the contact of the finger 13 on said arm with the yieldingly-supported cam-block the feeder is held with sufficient pressure upon the yarn in the feedway to force it forward as it moves.

A swinging lever 19 is fulcrumed on a lug 20 on .the plate 5 on the opposite. side of the feed-plate from the arm 12. This lever is bent downwardly at its forward end and provided with a finger 21, which enters the re 0 cess 22 in the forward end of the rigid plate as the forward end of the lever is drawnv down by the spiral spring 23. The tension of this spring draws the finger down tightly upon the yarn in the recess, in order to break it at 5 this point. A pin 35,- projecting from the swinging arm beneath the feed-plate, raises the latter as the arm 12 swings back. A stop 24 on the frame limits the backward swing of the said arm. The slide-plate 25 on the feed plate regulates the length of throw of the feed-plate by lengthening or shortening the slot 14, and consequently the length of the extra piece knitted into the web of the fabric. This plate is provided with a slot 26, and the plate is held in position by a set-screw 27, which extends through this slot. The arm 12 is swung by the pitman 28, and the latter is reciprocated by the crank-disk 29, which latter is driven by a belt 30 from the cylinder 1. This belt passes around a pulley 31 on the spindle 32, which carries the crank-disk. As the cylinder 1 turns, the arm is vibrated, carrying the feed-plate forward and backward. The yarn 33 is fed by this plate through the yarnway and between the teeth 7 7 while the finger 21 is raised. hen the arm swings back, it carries the feeder back to take a new hold on the yarn and the finger 21 holds the yarn until the portion beingknitted is broken. As the arm swings forward the finger is raised and another length of yarn is fed between the teeth 7 7. This motion continues as long as the machine continues its motion, and, as above mentioned, the length of the yarn fed may be varied to suit the design by changing the slide-plate 25.

It is evident that slight changes might be resorted to in the form and arrangement of the several parts described without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, and hence I do not wish to limit myself to the particular construction herein set forth; but,

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The combination, with a plate having a yarnway and a feed-plate, of mechanism for producing an intermittent movement of the feed-plate and for regulating the extent of such movement, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with a plate having a feedway and a feed-plate, and mechanism for producing an intermittent feed, of mechanism for regulating the length of material fed to the web, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, with a plate having a yarnway, a feeder, and means for operating said feeder, of a rocking lever, a finger thereon, and devices for holding the finger across the yarnway when the feeder is taking a new hold upon the yarn and for raising the end of the rocking lever carrying the finger when the yarn is being fed beneath it, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination, with a plate having a yarnway and feeder, of an arm adapted to operate said feeder, an adjustable slide-plate for regulating the throw of the feeder, and a spring-actuated cam-block which regulates the pressure of the feeder upon the yarn being fed, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination, with a plate having a yarnway, a feeder having sliding pivotal connection therewith, and an arm adapted to reciprocate the feeder, of a swinging springactuated arm having a pin thereon and a finger which extends across the yarnway and which is raised by the forward movement of the feeder and lowered by the action of the spring when the pressure of the feeder is not upon the swinging arm, substantially as set forth. it

6. The combination, with the frame and a rigid plate secured thereto, the latter having a yarnway in its forward end, a recess, and a pair of teeth, of a feed-plate having a pivotal sliding connection with the rigid plate, a lever for sliding said feed-plate, and a spring-actuated swinging arm pivoted to the rigid plate and having a pin thereon and a finger adapted to be forced into the recess in the rigid plate by the action of the spring and removed therefrom by the forward movement of the feed-plate, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination, with the frame, a rigid plate secured thereon, the latter being split at the rear end, having a yarnway, a recess, and apair of upright teeth at the forward end, and a feed-plate having pivotal sliding connection with the rigid plate at the rear end and a toothed feeder at its forward end, which works in the yarnway, of a leverhaving a finger which operates in a slot in the feed-plate, a pivoted cam-block and a slideblock on the feed-plate, and a swinging spring-actuated arm pivoted on the rigid plate and having a finger at one end adapted to enter the recess in the rigid plate to hold the yarn while it is broken, and a pin on the side of the arm which bears on the lower edge of the feed-plate, substantially as set forth.

8. The combination, with a needle-cylinder, feed-wheel, yarnway, and feeder, of a lever for operating the feeder, a pit-man conneeted thereto, a crank-disk and belt for communicating motion to the latter, and a swinging spring-actuated arm pivoted to the rigid plate and having a finger for holding the yarn in the yarnway, and a pin on said arm in position to be struck by the feed-plate as the latter is moved forward, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

SAMUEL L. OTIS.

lVitnesses:

HENRY S. KLINE, CHARLES S. NISBET.

ITO 

